The Mask
by Bad Ronald
Summary: Shinji finds something very mysterious and very... green? What will he do with it, and how will his friends cope with his decision?


**The Mask**

**By Bad Ronald**

_                Tokyo-3,_ _Misato Katsurai's Flat, morning._

Shinji Ikari, Third Child and designated pilot for Unit-01, choked down Misato Katsuragi's cooking, trying not to cry out in agony, for Misato was peering at him and awaiting his opinion.

"I-it's _rrreeally_ good, Misat…Hurk!", Shinji said, bile rising to his throat.  He fought it down as soon as he saw Misato's questioning glance.

Shinji swallowed it down quickly to diminish the pain, and spoke, breathlessly.

"It's… really… good…Misato.", Shinji said, pausing to breathe after each word.

"See, I knew you would like it!  I made it myself, _without_ a cook-book!", Misato said happily.

_Not that one would actually help…  _Shinji thought grimly.

Asuka Langley Sohryu, Second Child and designated pilot for Unit-02, then walked out of her room, heading for the kitchen.  She scrunched up her face as she smelled smoke.

"Baka, isn't it your turn to cook?", Asuka asked, looking over at Shinji. "Then why did you mess up the… oh no."

Shinji looked over to her sadly and nodded.

"NO!", Asuka exclaimed, backing away.

"Oh, come on, Asuka!  Shinji here likes it!", Misato said, turning to Asuka.

Asuka narrowed her eyes and glanced at Shinji, who was shaking his head vehemently.

"Uhh… I think I'll go get ready for school.", Asuka said, hastily making her exit.

Misato stared sadly after Asuka and sighed.

"Why doesn't she like it?  I bet she's just not hungry.  But I know you are, Shinji!  Do you want some more?  Shinji?  Shinji, I said, do you want some mo…?", Misato turned when she got no reply, and noticed that Shinji was gone, and his chair had been teetering on one leg just before it clattered to the ground.

Shinji hunched over the toilet, his mouth wide open, his face reddening.

He couldn't vomit.  His stomach was actually digesting the thing that he ate, and the horrible taste in his mouth was worsening.

Shinji groaned wearily, resting his head against the raised lid of the toilet.

I hate Misato's cooking… 

_                The Sidewalks of the streets of Tokyo-3, daytime._

A while later, Shinji was strolling on his way to school.  He knew that Asuka had already left earlier right after Misato had demanded that she eat her cooking.

_Misato can be so hardheaded sometimes…  what a slob._

Shinji shook his head and smiled.  It was unbelievable that such a great military tactician could be such a slob on her spare time.

He was suddenly violently shoved to the ground, seeing a man run away from him, clutching something green.  Shinji noticed that the man threw the thing to the ground and continued running, as if he were afraid of it.  He watched as the man run, running as if his life was in grave danger.

Why is he scared of it? 

Shinji picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off, wondering why the man was running.  There were no police chasing him, there were no people after him…

He walked over to the foreign object and gingerly picked it up.

                _A wood mask?_

It was green, but not as if it were painted green.  It looked as if the green tint of the wood was natural, as if it were some rare object from an even rarer place.  He ran his fingers over the contour of the mask; awed by the fact that the mask _shimmered_ when he turned it into the sunlight.

                Shinji turned it over, peering at the eyeholes and the mouth hole, both of them shimmering bright green.

                He found himself strangely drawn to it, his hand unconsciously bringing the mask to his face, as for him to wear it.  He then felt himself panicking.  What if the mask was something else?  What if it was cursed, or haunted, or worse?  The mask reached his face, touching his skin.  He now wore it snugly, holding it against his face.  A couple of people passing by gave him strange looks and snickers.

                What a sight!  A teenage boy in a school uniform holding a green wooden mask to his face…this was surely a joke, was it not?

                Shinji shook his head, removing the mask.  Cursed?  Haunted?

                Shinji laughed out loud.  _Oh, please…  _For some strange reason, he couldn't bear with the thought of leaving it… so he tucked it in his schoolbag on his way to school.

                But he couldn't shake off the fact that the running man had been terrified of it.  Why was he so scared of it?  What did it mean to him?

                These thoughts troubled Shinji all the way to school.

 

                **_Power._**

_                …What?_

_                **Power.**_

_                What do you mean?_

_                **Power beyond your wildest dreams.**_

_                And…  Why are you telling me this?_

_                **All yours for the taking.**_

_No, that can't be right._

You want it.

Want what?

**_You need it._**

_Need it?  What do I need?_

**_It's yours._**

_What are you talking about?!  The power?_

_                **All yours!**_

_                Why?_

_                **All yours!**_

_                But why?!  Please tell me why!_

_                **You want power.  You crave power.**_

****_That's not true!  I don't want power; I want people to accept me, to respect me, to love me…_

_                **You lie, Ikari.  You want power.  And with that power, you could do great justice.**_

****_Wha-what do you mean?_

_                **Must you be so dense?  You could do what others have done to you.  You could right all the wrongs they did to you.**_

****_No!  I don't want to hurt anybody.  I just want them to respect me and know me._

_                **Liar.**_

****_Stop it._

_                **Liar.**_

****_Stop it!_

_                **I offer you this power.  I am the key.**_

****_Who are you?_

_                **I am your key.**_

****_Who are you?_

_                **I am your concept of power.**_

****_Who are you?_

_                **I am it.**_

****_Who are you?!!_

_                **I am me.**_

****_Tell me!_

_                **I am I.**_

****_Please, tell me!_

_                **I am…**_

****_…?_

**_…The Mask._**

_What?_

**_………SSSSSSMMOKIIN'!!!_**

_What the…?!_

_                Nighttime._

Shinji awoke with a start, standing up.  He was breathing heavily with sweat beading off his forehead.  He then realized that it was very cold, and took a look around, seeing a vast and sprawling city.  The sounds of the bustling streets and people reached his ears, and so did the spooky sound of the chilly wind.

                _…!  Where am I?!_

Shinji turned and suddenly found himself teetering over the edge of a massive pillar on a gigantic bridge.

                He never even moved.  The image of a strong draft current pushing him off the pillar ran through his mind, but he never stepped backwards.  Instead, he only looked down, his features displaying shock, his heart beating like the wings of a hummingbird.

                 Shinji gaped at the sight.  He was looking down, his toes hanging off the bridge, while cars as small as his fingernails zoomed by in the massive bridge street below.  It looked wonderful, as if from an artistic oil painting.

                _What a beautiful way to die._

Shinji gazed at the small cars, smiling serenely.  He relished the lights and the random colorful chromes passing by.  He hoped a strong wind current would shove him off and let him see for himself what the beautiful lights were actually like.

Then he realized he was standing on the brink of his death.

What the hell am I doing?! 

With a startled cry, Shinji flung himself backwards, away from the dangerous edge, and hit the metal of the pillar top.  Breathing heavily, his vision swirled as he realized that he had been a second away from plummeting to his death.  Cringing at the thought, he clenched his fists, unclenched them, then clenched them again.  And then, he felt something in his hand.

                Looking down, he saw that it was that green mask that he had picked up yesterday.

                His head was swarming with questions, most of them asking how he got here.

                _Did I… sleepwalk?  If I did, how did I end up here, of all places?_

_                Shinji slowly let his gaze trail down to the green wood mask, which was shimmering brightly._

                He furrowed his brow, turning the mask over.  The inside of the mask was brimming with bright shiny colors, making him squint his eyes in response.

                He felt his arms tightening, his muscles involuntarily twitching.  Then he felt his arms bringing the mysterious mask up to his face.  Shinji was completely lost in the ever-changing colors of the inside of the mask, which was getting closer and closer to his face.  

                All of a sudden, he was bathed in white, a spotlight illuminating where he was sitting.  He felt his control returning back to his arms, for the one holding the mask drooped, while the other came up to shield his eyes from the bright light.

                **_"Shinji!!!  What the hell are you doing here?!  I've been worried sick!"  _**, Misato's booming voice suddenly invaded Shinji's ears, making him look up.  He saw a majestic NERV VTOL aircraft, the harbor doors opening slowly.  In those doors, he could make out the sight of a frazzled Misato holding a loudspeaker.

                Shinji stood up, staring at the aircraft with a stupor look on his face.  He looked down at the mask, seeing that it was now a dull green, the shiny, shimmering colors that inhabited it now gone.

                He slowly got up, and walked towards the aircraft.

                In a few moments, the doors were closed, Shinji was forcibly strapped in by Misato, and the aircraft was streaking into the air.

                "Mind telling me what the hell that was about?!  I looked all over the place for you!  You're lucky a Section Two agent saw you missing and followed you… he called us as soon as he saw you climbing the stairs all the way to the top.  He told me you were just about to fall!", Misato said, sitting in front of Shinji with a stern, but worried, look on her face.

                "H…Huh?", Shinji asked, not understanding a single word that came out from Misato's mouth.

                "Don't 'huh' me, young man.  You couldn't possible be _that depressed!  What were you doing up there?  I want to know, now.", Misato commanded, glowering at Shinji._

                _Couldn't possibly be **that **depressed…_

                Shinji looked away, feeling awful.  He gave the NERV officials a lot of trouble and made Misato worry, and that depressed Shinji even more.

                "I'm sorry, Misa—", Shinji said, but was cut off.

                "No, I don't want to hear apologies.  I want to know what was going through your mind when you were attempting to kill yourself!", Misato said.

                "Kill myself?  I wasn't trying to kill myself, t-that's crazy!  I was…", Shinji stopped, feeling the mask in his hand.  He then turned it over and thought of an excuse to say.

"I was… looking for my mask.  Yeah!  My mask… I— I got it!", Shinji exclaimed, holding the mask up for Misato to see.

Misato gave him a skeptical look and shook her head, looking away sadly.

It worked.  The pathetic excuse actually worked.  

She stopped interrogating him, and the rest of the trip back home was spent in silence.  

Shinji then realized that Misato didn't bother ask him why he would risk his life to find a mask on the pillar of a huge bridge.

_Misato's flat, nighttime._

Misato had gone to sleep with a sullen look on her face, but not before scolding Shinji and giving him a lengthy lecture how to deal with life's problems in a healthier way.

Shinji was feeling extremely sleepy, so he walked over to his room and opened the door.  As soon as he was inside his room, he threw the mask on his pillow and plopped down on his bed, with the mask next to his head, the face of the mask staring at the ceiling.

He had trouble keeping his eyelids open, and, within seconds, he was in a blissful slumber.

Little did he know that the mask was mysteriously inching itself forward, its wooden face next to Shinji's sleeping face.

The mask, glistening brightly, slowly flipped itself over, the face of the mask now pressing against the pillow.  Shinji, whose head was sideways on the pillow, murmured in his sleep and rolled over, unknowingly pressing his face into the inside of the mask.

A loud sucking sound could be heard, and Shinji woke up, finding the mask latched on his face.  With a startled shout, he jumped off his bed, standing and trying to pry the mask off his face.  The green wood of the mask started melting and enveloped itself around Shinji's whole head.

Shinji tried to scream, and found that he couldn't.  He moaned as the mask pressed tightly against his face, the seams becoming one with his skin.  Suddenly, he spun around, and he found himself swirling around the room, a miniature tornado.

He spun around the room, banging into the walls, sucking in the mattress of his bed and throwing it to the ceiling.  

The possessions in his room were also sucked into the tornado and hurled onto the walls, creating havoc.  Shinji didn't know what was going on, and he was scared out of his wits.  He kept spinning, his heart hammering faster and faster.  He found his sense of logic sinking away, then found that his fear was dwindling, replaced by nonchalance, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.  His shy and reserved demeanor was gone, a giggling, unrestrained need for mischief already firmly in its place.  He found himself spinning faster and faster, and he laughed and cackled at the thought.

Then he stopped spinning, completely changed.  

His head was the most visual change, his head completely enveloped in green with his hair gone, his expressions rubber-like and weasely, with his huge smile scrunching up his face.  His smile would have unnerved most people, since his teeth were big and immaculately white, his cheeks bunching up to make way for his spooky smile.

His eyes were wide with a glint of mischief, his pupils contracted into two small dots, giving him a psychotic look.

His clothing attire was the same, but the way he moved and carried himself was different.

The shy and scared boy that went by the name of Shinji Ikari was gone, The Mask, the other side of him, now in control of his body.  

"SSSSSSMMMMOKIIN'!", The Mask exclaimed, grinning wickedly, his eyes brimming with mischief. 

To Be Continued…

                Wow…  I'm mean.  I hoped you liked this little section; look for me to add more in a month.  Or two.  Because I'm that damn lazy.  Sorry about the spaces between new paragraphs.  I know they suck ass, but that's FF.net for you.

                Oh, and this idea came to me after I watched The Mask after watching an Eva Episode.

                Read and Review, please.  Go ahead and flame me, but don't be surprised if I break down and cry like a baby on how unfair you're treating me with that big belt and making me suck the calcium deposit.

                Love me?  

So… yeah.  And stuff.


End file.
